WESTERN BIRDS ^'^ 



rasping, unmusical performance. At another time it was 

 a sharp, sit-e, sit-e, sit; also chi-e, ee-e, ee-e, e-ah, and a 

 squeally squee-ah, sque-e-ah. 



Usually, the male comes ahead and gets the home 

 ready for the female. The nest is loosely made of long, 

 coarse twigs which the little builder sometimes has 

 trouble to get into the hole he has chosen for a nest, but, 

 nothing daunted, he works steadily all day long and as he 

 works, he sings. Usually, after the load has been de- 

 posited, this whole-hearted, carefree song bubbles forth, 

 the notes coming so rapidly that they almost trip on 

 each other. If the oft-repeated ditty sometimes becomes 

 monotonous, we cannot but rejoice in the great delight it 

 gives the little singer. 



Oftentimes when the female finally arrives and sees 

 the nest prepared for her by her gallant spouse, she 

 angrily rejects it, flying at the little builder and driving 

 him away while she throws out the material and builds 

 the nest all over to her own liking. The male seems not 

 to resent this, but sings away as cheerily as ever. 



One little male that I watched building a nest made 

 over forty trips a minute with material, and after each 

 trip he paused long enough to throw back his head and 

 pour forth his bubbling song. In this case the female 

 accepted the nesting site, but made some different ar- 

 rangements in the interior decorations, as seemed quite 

 fitting that the lady of the house should do. 



From five to seven eggs are laid and they are pretty 

 pinkish-white affairs which are thickly spotted with 

 reddish-brown. In the southern part of its range two 

 broods are hatched, while farther north there is only one. 

 The female does all the brooding, leaving the nest at the 

 call of her mate and foraging with him. 



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